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Guide

TRADE SHOWS,
AND WHAT THEY COST YOU.

Reference

A booth is the most expensive customer acquisition most brands ever buy, and the cost that surprises people is not the booth. Selling at a show can create a tax obligation in that state for the entire year, from three days of trading.

The nexus trap

Physical presence at a trade show is physical presence. In many US states, attending — and certainly selling — creates nexus, sometimes for the whole year, from a single event. Sellers discover this when an assessment arrives for a state they visited once.

  • Some states allow a few days before nexus attaches; some count one
  • Many run a temporary event permit that is far simpler than full registration
  • The organiser usually knows the rule and is rarely asked

What actually returns the cost

Not orders written at the booth. The follow-up. A show produces a list of buyers who saw the line and did not commit, and the money is made in the two weeks afterwards while they still remember it.

Go prepared to be evaluated

Buyers walk a show comparing. Missing case packs, undecided ship dates and a linesheet you promise to email are the reasons a good line loses to an average one that answered every question at the booth.

Record what happened while it is fresh

A conversation nobody wrote down is a conversation that did not happen. Which buyer, which store, what they asked for and what you promised — logged the same day, because by the third day of a show nobody remembers the first.

Where to go next
/post-show/dashboard/brand/sales-tax/guides/product-launch
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